Shows of the Week: Rock's Most Erratic Band Isn't Quite Done Making Magic

WEEZER Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, June 10 Most bands either crash hard or fall into long, slow declines. As much as it pains us as fans, even some of the most gifted songwriters of all time eventually start churning out subpar material. Perhaps that's what makes Weezer a particularly frustrating band to love: Just when you think you can write them off, Rivers Cuomo manages to write an album that reminds you why you fell for them in the first place. So yes, Weezer's new self-titled album (also known as “The White Album”) proves that every seven or eight years, Cuomo is capable of magic. Catchy as all get-out, it's a solid enough record to get fans to buy into whatever the band chooses for at least another five years. Don't go worrying too much about set lists; Houston is night one of the tour, so there's no telling what you'll get other than at least a few pure power-pop masterpieces. With Panic! at the Disco and Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness. CORY GARCIA

BOOM BASHCynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, June 11 Earlier this spring, Salt N’ Pepa’s “I Love the ’90s” tour proved there was still plenty of demand for a package tour starring acts from rap’s “Golden Age,” but 92.1 FM’s “Boom Bash” might blow that one out of the water. Just look at the headliners — the great Rakim, undisputed lyrical heavyweight champion of all time; and Run-DMC, the kings of rock (there is none higher) out celebrating the 30th anniversary of both game-changing LP Raising Hell and boundary-smashing hit single “Walk This Way.” Further down the bill, the fun doesn’t let up with Cleveland motormouths Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony (“Tha Crossroads”); groundbreaking feminist rapper MC Lyte (“Cold Rock a Party”); Jersey party boys Naughty By Nature (“OPP”); UK-born Native Tongues associate Monie Love (“Monie In the Middle”); and Compton mixmaster DJ Quik (The Book of David). No question about it: With a bill this stacked, there really is no school like the old school.

LIBBY KOCH McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, June 11 After exploring her deep East Texas roots on 2014’s Tennessee Colony, basing its songs on stories passed down within her family for generations, Libby Koch tackles the equally daunting theme of modern relationships on followup Just Move On (Berkalin). Scheduled for release on June 24, the album trades the rustic arrangements of Colony for the kind of crisp but classic country-pop that has all but vanished from Nashville but guarantees the album a welcome spot in the libraries of any Rosanne Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter or Patty Loveless fan. That said, fans who prefer their country music come from a dance hall rather than a coffeehouse will be rewarded handsomely with “You Don’t Live Here Anymore,” “Bring You Down” and “I’ve Been Blind” as well.